>> you're like -- >> tomorrow, a team's prayer answered. good evening. it's great to have you with us here on a saturday night. we do begin here, with yet another holiday storm. the one-two punch this year, and tonight, on a weekend when so many are still traveling, a challenge out there. here's the radar at this hour. rain and snow. tonight, it's moving through the ohio valley right into the northeast, from washington up through philly, new york and boston. this is just one of the many scenes on american highways tonight. this is i-83 outside of harrisburg. where several cars collided in the snow. several people were taken to the

the hospital. already this evening the flight cancellations are growing, more than 450 and counting. at this hour, triggering a ripple effect as people travel for new year's. so, we begin tonight with abc meteorologist ginger zee. ginger, good evening. >> good evening, david. blustery here. more snow just west of us. 2 or 6 inches of snow, that's on top where they already saw record numbers this week. as millions of us return from family gatherings, or take off for new festivities, another snowstorm is thwarting our trek. in king of prussia, they were sliding through intersections. on a fresh few inches. near harrisburg, pennsylvania, two tractor-trailers crashed. shutting down interstate 83. slowing traffic to a crawl. thanks to the snowing mess, the speed limit on about 300 miles of the pennsylvania turnpike was shaved to 45 miles per hour. hundreds of flights were canceled. delays from philadelphia to those stranded in buffalo.

and that shopping trip to return that ugly sweater, not so easy in scranton, pennsylvania. in yankee stadium, it was a sloppy mess for syracuse and west virginia in that pinstripe bowl. we check in with our team from syr. >> here in syracuse, another winter blast. giving us no break from all of this storm. almost a foot fell on thursday and now a couple more inches falling today. we have our ruler here, about 12 inches of snow on the ground. now, we're used to snow here in syracuse. but we haven't seen this much on the ground in two years. >> reporter: but for so many, the snow is more than welcomed on their week off. like maggie, a pup in new berlin, new york. where they have so much you can hardly see her. >> at least the puppy is happy. ginger is back with us now. you mentioned more than a foot in some places, how much are we adding on that top of that? >> 4 to 8 inches.

let my show you some of the spots that we're tracking. salem, ohio, half-foot. knox, pennsylvania, 8. wheeling, west virginias about a half-foot. how much left is to fall? new england is going to take the brunt of it. 820 -- 8 to 12 inches. >> 20 blocks north of times square, for folks out there watching the ball drop, what are they going to expect? >> kind of like this. flurries. temperatures in the mid-20s. the other storm swirling out there in washington, is the one angering americans across the country tonight. as lawmakers take us right up to that fiscal cliff. this evening, three days to go before taxes go up for all americans. will the president's pressure on congress bring in a deal? let's bring in jon karl on this. jon, are they any closer?

>> a little closer, but they are certainly not there yet. tonight, congressional leaders are making one last-ditch effort to keep most americans from waking up to a big tax like on new year's day. with just three days left, finally a glimmer of hope. >> i'm hopeful and optimistic. >> whatever we come up with it's going to be imperfect. some people aren't going to a like it. >> reporter: right now, it's all in the hands of the two senate leaders. democratic harry reid and republican mitch mcconnell. they're working on a mini-deal that would prevent a tax increase for roughly 98% of american workers. extend unemployment benefits that are set to expire for some 2 million people. and prevent a huge cut in payments to medicare doctors. what took so long? >> the american people are watching what we do here. obviously, their patience is already thin. this is deja vu all over again. >> reporter: the 11th-hour effort to get a deal comes after the president met with the congressional leaders at the white house.

it was his first such meeting in six weeks. even as mcconnell and reid come to an agreement, there's no agreement it will pass before the end of the year. the agreement represents what the president says is the bare minimums. extending tax cuts while doing nothing to curb spending or address the long-term deficit crisis. if they fail to pass a mini-deal, virtually everybody's income taxes will go up. and even if the income tax cuts are extended virtually all workers are due to see less in their paychecks, starting in january, when the temporary 2% payroll tax cut is set to expire. and don't assume there will be a mini-deal, a democratic source close to the meetings going on tonight, says, quote, the

prospects are not too promising they'll get to a bipartisan agreement to prevent everyone's taxes from going up. david? >> our chief white house correspondent jon karl. of course, this waiting game is already affecting americans' 401(k)s. the stock market, five straight day of losses. let's bring in bianna golodryga. bianna, great to see you. if these lawmakers thought that waiting to the 11th hour wouldn't have an effect, look no further than the stock market. >> take a look at what happened just the few days. the dow lost 158 points. for the week, down 252 points. david, these aren't just money we're talking about, it's real money. the average 401(k) lost $3,000, $4,000. december is traditionally a good month for the markets. >> and for home sales. existing sales up 10% from this time last year. here's what the president had to say about that. he fired off a warning shot here. >> america wonders why it is that, in this town for some reason, you can't get stuff done in an organized timetable. why everything has to wait until the last minute. well, we're now at the last minute. the economy is growing. the housing market is recovering. but that could be impacted if folks are seeing smaller

paychecks. >> and so, bianna, what about that momentum in the housing market, is that at risk? >> it definitely is. it's not just home sales. it's home prices. home prices have gone up, too. take a look at a battered state like arizona, home prices went up 21%. all of that is at play right now if washington doesn't come up with a solution. >> bianna, our thanks to you as well tonight. we'll turn now to a dramatic picture from overseas, a deadly crash landing in moscow, a jet skidding off a runway and coming close to a crowded highway. the jet breaking into pieces. four people onboard killed. authorities say this could have been even worse. >> reporter: the flight was attempting to land at moscow airport when it overshot the runway. broke through a barrier fence and finally skidded to a stop on the edge of a highway, the plane broke into three pieces and burst into flames. witnesses rushed to pull survivors from the wreckage.

the russian-made plane was flying back from the czech republic with no passengers and just eight crew members onboard. officials said four of them were killed, including the pilot. the other four were seriously injured. but the death toll could have been even worse, that's the plane behind me and this is a major highway, if the plane went a few yards further it would have slammed into traffic. russia's air fatality rate is three times higher than the world average. last year a plane crash wiped out an entire russian hockey team. investigation has been opened into today's crash. but some officials have suggested that pilot error was to blame. abc news, moscow. thanks to you. and to another dramatic scene, this one back here in the states. a holiday sledding party in california, turning into a nightmare when people began plunging into the ice beneath. here's abc's ron claiborne now. >> reporter: it began when one man accidentally slipped off the

sheet of ice and into the lake. the people you see in this video are members of a sledding excursion that goes terribly wrong. >> we saw this guy coming across the ice really fast. it went from cheering to all of a sudden just -- to an unbelievable amount of panic and chaos. >> reporter: one man goes to the ice's edge to try to help, but then he falls in. and then, one would-be rescuer after another tries to help only to plunge into the lake themselves in a chain reaction. a crowd gathers on shore. frantically screaming for help. >> call 911! >> reporter: five minutes after the first man went in, nearly a dozen people are in the water as others throw ropes and inner tubes but no luck. micky herman shot this video, you can hear him calling for someone to bring a hope. >> it was very hard to watch. >> reporter: finally, nine harrowing minutes into this ordeal on ice, everyone somehow manages to scramble out.

amazingly, this escapade on ice ended happily, everyone is just fine. ron claiborne, abc news, new york. >> ron, thanks. in chicago tonight, a stunning milestone to mark year's end, 500 homicides. near a record high which they attribute to gang violence, and illegal guns. new york, 414 crime rate. lowest in more than 40 years. michael bloomberg talked about the crime numbers for the year, one reason for the spike in thefts is the iphone. >> it's part of an expending robbery epidemic, police call apple picking. this surveillance video shows a thief sneaking up on her and putting her in a head lock. new york major michael bloomberg said that iphone thefts are

single-handedly driving up the city's crime rate. >> if you just took out the thefts of apple products, our total crime rate would be lower than it was last year. >> reporter: in new york city alone, iphone thefts have spiked more than 30%. nearly 16,000 gadgets snatched. and in washington, d.c., police told our pierre thomas, they make up nearly 40% of all robberies. >> they're targeting those who are more vulnerable, women, women with baby carriages. >> reporter: police have stepped up awareness. in las vegas, they put out a psa announcement with the voice of siri. >> i really don't enjoy being stolen. >> reporter: they're registering cell phones so owners can be contacted. if police find the devices. an additional piece of advice, you can download a free app that

allows you to remotely lock your phone and wipe all of the information off just in case it gets into the wrong hands. david, we know how important that is with all of personal information we have stored on there. we have some good news to report tonight about former president george h.w. bush, he's out of icu and on the mend. the progress may have something to do with a phone call he got over the last 24 hours. from the country music star oak ridge boys. ♪ amazing grace ♪ how sweet that sounds >> they're singing right into the phone there to the president. we learned from the president's office that it was his wife, barbara bush, who requested the call. we're pulling for him. much more ahead -- an warning about messages you receive on facebook. a message you receive from a friend might be far more deadly and costly.

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it looked like it was from a friend. "my trip to manila, philippines, with my family has been a mess. i was hit at the back of my neck with a club. i need you to loan me some money." was this real or a hoax? skeptical, our producer decided to play along. "okay, don't worry." i think i can come up with a few hundred at least." we wired just 20 the con artist picked up the money within hours and complained. "you should have told me you never had any money." but we didn't leave it there. we traced the e-mailer's trail halfway around the world to manila, in the philippines, where an alert western union agent, said that the suspected scammer came into his shop to cash in. "i remember that he claimed money from me in the past."

scam artists hack into your e-mail account, mining it for personal details about your friends and family. use that information to trick you into thinking they're in trouble. >> they're preying on what's important on you. >> reporter: if you send money, the con artist hit you with other scams. experts say never send money before making sure that e-mail is really from a friend. elisabeth leamy, abc news. >> great information from elisabeth. and when we come back here on the broadcast -- do you think you can dance? how you can get up on that stage next to beyonce, next. [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit smoking with chantix. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke.

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[ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. we'll turn now to our "instant index" here on saturday night. a what's trending. our video here, anyone looking to get rid of their christmas tree, they're feeding them to the goats in middletown, rhode island. in a matter of minutes, the trees -- there's not much left. one way of getting rid of the christmas tree tonight.

to our number tonight -- 1,380 feet. that's how far down it was for these flying dare devils, look at this, it was in malaysia. on the way down, they glide, flip, twirl, they filmed it all. capturing some breathtaking views. that was really something to see. to our person tonight. superstar beyonce planning to share the super bowl spotlight at halftime and apparently you don't have to be a single lady. here's the deal, beyonce is looking for a hundred fans to shake it up with her on stage, during super bowl sunday. the pepsi concert begins online. they say, send beyonce your pictures. if you're chosen you could be on stage with her on super bowl sunday. if you can move like that. our "instant index" here for a saturday night. when we come back -- one extraordinary return. an entire team's prayers answered and the coach who will return tomorrow, you'll hear from him right here tonight.

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that acts fast and helps control cravings all day long. ♪ quit one day at a time with nicoderm cq. finally, tonight, here, the nfl coach who inspired his entire team, facing his own battle off the field. they waited for him on it. tonight, we team up with our espn colleague rachel nichols for one triumphant return.

at the beginning of this season the head coach of the indianapolis colts chuck pagano faced heavy odds. the team, fresh off an awful season. even the fans wondering, where have all of the good times gone? the new pick the rookie quarterback taking over for the departed peyton manning. the coach already facing so much pressure and then, less than a month in, the diagnosis. the 52-year-old coach had leukemia. away from the field, pagano was facing tremendous hurdles of his own. the coach with our colleague rachel nichols. >> what were used to do? the simplest things that you couldn't do anymore? >> getting out of bed, going to the restroom, brushing my teeth. things like that. just it physically tears you down to the point where, you know, you lose 20, 25 pounds, you know, you atrophied. >> reporter: the team praying for the team.

the team's mantra chuckstrong and the team began to win remarkably turning their record around, making it to the playoffs. and as the coach began to regain his strength, rare visits to the team. >> i'm dancing to two more wins. and we're hoisting that trophy together. >> reporter: the messages from the champions off the field. fellow survivors. >> i beat it. it can. you can beat it, too. >> i know i can. >> reporter: the constant checking from doctors of his blood count. >> kind of like scoreboard watching, like a coach. looking at your numbers. >> the doctor came in and he said, your counts are coming up to good. i said, how were they? he said, good enough to go home. so, you're like -- it's like a day early. so, anyway, he said, what time

is the game? i said, we play at 1:00 today. he said you should be out of here by noon and make it home in time to see the game from home. so, that was big. that was awesome. it was a great day. it was a great day. >> a great day. and tomorrow, an even better one when the coach returns to the field, and you can see more of rachel's interview with him tomorrow morning on "nfl countdown" 10:00 a.m. eastern on espn. "good morning america" first thing in the morning and i'll see you right back here for "world news" tomorrow night. good night.

>> ama: next at 6:00, a dog killed right in front of its owner in a brutal robbery in san francisco. the family in mourning. a father and son drowned in the bay. tonight their family talks to abc-7 news about their loved ones. >> a wave crashing down tonight. the high surf advisory in effect and what you need to know if you're heading for the coast. abc-7 news at 6:00 starts now. >> ama: good evening, thank you for joining us, i'm ama daetz. a robbery on a san francisco street takes a violent turn when the thief kills the victim's dog. sergio quintana spoke with the victim today. reporter: the woman is devastated by this. the says she is not too shaken up because she was mugged bus it heartbroken her attacker

brutally killed her dog. this is rocksie -- rocksie. she says she couldn't find her phone while driving so she pulled over to look for it near golden gate in the tenderloin. she got out of her car to look on the passenger side and a man walked up to her and demannedded money and then took $5 from her pocket. he noticed her dog was barking, threatened to kill the dog, and then snatched the dog out of the driver's side door. >> he put roxie over his head and threw her towards incoming traffic. >> now, roxie didn't die from the impact of being thumped on the street. she survived a rush drive to an emergency veterinarian hospital but was put down because she suffered too many injuries. this happen last meaning before 5:00 p.m., police are examining images from surveillance cameras